The Daily Prophet
by Christina Hilt
Summary: Rita Skeeter's latest scoop! Part 2 of the TWOC universe Now published on my MSN group.


**The Daily Prophet**

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**SCHOLARLY SHOCK IN STAFF-STUDENT SEDUCTION**

_Once again, your _Daily Prophet_ reporter has uncovered disturbing evidence that all is not well at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the last few years, the school's most eccentric Headmaster since Leonardo the Loopy seems to have had an attitude of 'anything goes'._

While one would expect the staff to serve as role models for our young witches and wizards, at Hogwarts it would seem that this is not the case. Staff in the last few years have included werewolves, giants, a charlatan responsible for the obliteration of countless memories for his own gain, and a paranoid and irresponsible ex-Auror.

Now it appears that standards have slipped even further, as a relationship between a teacher and his young student has been permitted - perhaps even encouraged - to progress to marriage.

The ceremony between sixth-year Hermione Granger and Potions Master Severus Snape was conspicuously small. Although all the staff know of the affair, few attended the wedding - evidence of the unpopularity of the match, and the high level of disapproval throughout the school.

The most notable exception was the unpredictable Albus Dumbledore, who not only attended, but also presided over the wedding, showing his full support, as he had done throughout the relationship. Popular opinion is that the controversial Headmaster, described by some as a 'senile old fruitbat', has finally allowed things to go a step too far.

Severus Snape is not a well-liked teacher, by either staff or students. The tyrannical Head of Slytherin was tried as a Death Eater, and cleared only on the word of his long time supporter, Albus Dumbledore. His appointment was dubious to say the least, and his scandalous relationship with a student entrusted to his care shows his appalling lack of scruples. His allegiance has never been entirely clear, resulting in the distrust of not only those siding with You-Know-Who, but also of colleagues, his family, and the Wizarding World in general. Most of the large and well-respected Snape family, in fact, have shunned him for years, and his marriage to a muggle-born girl less than half his age is unlikely to improve familial relations. As he approaches the age of forty, one can only guess at his motives for marrying a teenage girl.

But we must not assume his child bride to be entirely an innocent victim in this sordid situation. Despite her youth, she knows what she wants and is willing to go to any lengths to get it. When her brief relationship with the famous Victor Krum failed to give her the fame and recognition she craves, she turned her attention to Harry Potter. Thankfully, for his sake, the relationship was doomed to failure, reportedly because of her insatiable appetite for the limelight, for which she could not compete against The Boy Who Lived.

The resourceful young witch now has a new strategy to gain fame, of which her relationship with her teacher is only a part. Seeking recognition of her magical abilities, she has taken one of her N.E.W.T. exams (coincidentally of the subject taught by her then lover) a year early. With such assistance available to her, it will not surprise anyone to hear that she achieved one of the top marks obtained in the subject in the last fifty years.

But she has not stopped there. Using her influence with Dumbledore, she has contrived to have some of her work published as a chapter in a book by Grendel Moldbury Arkletan. However, with the book based on the subject taught by her husband, this Daily Prophet_ reporter is forced to ask herself just how much of the chapter accredited to the student is truly her own work. Will the ambitious muggle-born stop at nothing to gain acknowledgment in the Wizarding World?_

Well, the relationship will certainly give Ms Granger - correction; Mrs. Snape - notoriety, but her husband's colleagues have little confidence in the situation. An unnamed source from the staff, who actually attended the wedding, despite misgivings, said "This will end in tragedy. The Fates have spoken against it."

The couple have retreated to an unknown location for the summer, and will now have plenty of time to learn of each other's faults. Whatever motives each has for their secret relationship and hasty marriage, one is left wondering whether either is fully aware of the truth behind their partner.

**_Rita Skeeter_**

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A/N: This chapter last updated on: 2002-05-01


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